Help with an assignment

I'm new to Alice, and working on an assignment. I need to make the horse gallop forward and then jump, with Kelly on his back...However I can't, no matter what I try, get his legs to move up and down as he moves towards the fence to jump. I have him as Kelly's vehicle, so they move together, and I can get him to move and jump...but how do I get his legs to move up and down to simulate galloping?

Originally Posted by chaotic

I'm new to Alice, and working on an assignment. I need to make the horse gallop forward and then jump, with Kelly on his back...However I can't, no matter what I try, get his legs to move up and down as he moves towards the fence to jump. I have him as Kelly's vehicle, so they move together, and I can get him to move and jump...but how do I get his legs to move up and down to simulate galloping?

Assuming that the horses legs are capable of moving up and down, you may find what you need at http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm If you don't understand the Alice programming concepts that you find there, just ask and I will try to help you understand those programming concepts.

Dick Baldwin
Free Alice tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm
Free programming tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm

I'm not sure which tutorial will apply to my situation. I will post the assignment I was given (which comes right out of the textbook actually) I just can't seem to figure out the galloping part. From Pages 110-111

Gallop and Jump
Kelly (people) has entered an equestrian show as an amateur jumper. She is somewhat nervous about the competition so she and the horse (animals) are practicing a jump. Create an initial scene with a horse and rider facing a fence (buildings) as shown below. Write two world level methods named gallop (horse and rider gallop forward one step) and another named jump (horse and rider jump the fence). In the gallop method the horses front legs should lift and then go down as the back legs lift and the horse moves forward. Then the back legs should go back down. The jump method should be similar but the horse should move up far enough to clear the fence in mid stride. Test each method to be sure it works as expected. You will need to adjust the distance amounts to make each look somewhat realistic.

Ok thats the exercise. I have the horse and rider, and I get them to move to the fence, and I get them to jump over it but I cannot get the legs to move correctly at all. I just cant figure it out.

Originally Posted by chaotic

I'm not sure which tutorial will apply to my situation. I will post the assignment I was given (which comes right out of the textbook actually) I just can't seem to figure out the galloping part. From Pages 110-111

Start with the first tutorial and study them in order until you learn enough about programming to do the assignment.

Dick Baldwin

The horse movements are some I have never actually seen animated in Alice - the "classic" animation approach is to start making it look like there are two men in a horse's outfit.

In addition to the code references, you might want to look at the methods for the cow and for the husky from the web gallery. Both include various walks, so you can get an idea of how to handle the leg movements.

I just went and took a look at the horse. It looks like the knees and ankles don't bend, so the best you will be able to do is a stiff-legged movement. You can do that by causing each of the legs to turn forward and backward in the correct sequence.

I agree with DrJim. You may be able to see how to do this by looking at the walk method of the cow. Note however that each of the cow's legs is subdivided into thigh, leg, lower leg, and hoof so it should be possible to create a more realistic motion with the cow than with the horse.

Dick Baldwin
Free Alice tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm
Free programming tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm

There is actually a horse in the web gallery that has separate upper legs, calves and hoofs - choose the one with the most parts listed in the thumbnail. Alternately just add both the horse and cow to your world - make the udders and horns on the cow "not showing" and then change it's texture to that of the horse - it's at least as believable that way as it is as a cow and you'll have the methods already written.

Originally Posted by DrJim

There is actually a horse in the web gallery that has separate upper legs, calves and hoofs - choose the one with the most parts listed in the thumbnail. Alternately just add both the horse and cow to your world - make the udders and horns on the cow "not showing" and then change it's texture to that of the horse - it's at least as believable that way as it is as a cow and you'll have the methods already written.

Now that's creative. Just proves there is more than one way to skin (texture) a horse -- or is it a corse, or maybe a how.

Dick Baldwin
Free Alice tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm
Free programming tutorials: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm

Originally Posted by DickBaldwin

[/I] a horse -- or is it a corse, or maybe a how.

Not sure what the result is - but re the original, take it from an old farmboy and never try to milk a "cow" with horns.